Jingle Bells
by The Atomic Cafe
Summary: MacStella Mac hates Christmas because of colds and the flu. Stella loves it for the diamonds.


**Jingle Bells**

**By Dimgwrthien**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or affiliates._

_For AliasCSINYFriendsER_

Mac sneezed into a tissue for the third time that morning. He couldn't stand Christmas in New York for the weather. Maybe if Christmas could be moved to July, he could stand celebrating, but otherwise, no one could ever find a good side of Mac for the latter half of December.

On the fourth sneeze, Stella knocked on his office door, letting herself in. "Merry Christmas," Stella told him, grinning at Mac and handing him a manila folder. "I have a present for you."

Mac glared up at her and sniffed. Opening the folder, he blandly told her, his voice very hoarse, "Wonderful. A double homicide? Never had a better present. Even beats my birthday present this year."

"You remember the robbery that ended up just being a misdemeanor?" Stella looked as though he had complimented her. "That's so sweet of you to remember!"

"The only reason why I haven't forgotten it is because I wasted two days on it before that became obvious." Mac closed the folder and sneezed once more. He stood up to fix the thermostat behind his desk, warming the room up by a few degrees.

"Flu?" Stella asked him.

Mac sat back down, laying out the papers from inside the folder. "Probably just a cold." He pressed a hand to his head, closing his eyes for a moment. "And headaches."

Stella watched him look at the papers for a minute, guessing that he couldn't see straight because of how he held the papers, then moved them backwards, then closer to his face. Stella sighed. "Mac, go home and get ready for Christmas, at least. We don't need you trying to work with a flu."

"Cold," he corrected. Another sneeze. "And I don't need to get ready for Christmas. I don't bother with it anymore."

Stella raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to invite myself over then, and if you don't have a Christmas tree in there, you'll owe me ten dollars."

"I never agreed to a bet. And I don't need to get ready for Christmas because I don't want to bother with it." Mac wiped his nose then switched the order of two of the papers from the folder.

"Forgot what Christmas was all about? I can always get Danny and Flack to cover themselves in flour and pretend to haunt your apartment, but I'm not sure how happy they'd be, trying to wash that out and everything."

Mac shook his head, smiling slightly. Stella glanced over him quickly, noticing a reddened nose and watery eyes, as well as the ginger way he seemed to move.

"I'm not Scrooge," Mac told her, sounding amused. "I'll make sure to look over the files."

"Alright. Just make sure you get home soon. I don't think any of us want to get the flu from you at Christmas." She jokingly put the crook of her elbow over her nose and mouth.

"Cold," he corrected once more as she left.

Once the day ended and Stella was sitting on her couch, reading a good book with her warmest socks on, the phone rang. She put down the book, reaching behind her head for the phone on the table.

"Bonasera."

"Hey, Stella. It's Mac."

"What's going on? You feeling any better?"

"I had checked with the doctor a bit earlier. It is the flu," Mac admitted, and Stella heard him sneeze.

Stella frowned. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No. The only thing is that… I was planning on giving you your Christmas gift today…"

Stella felt herself blush. "That's sweet, Mac. I have something for you, too, but I was planning on giving it to you on Christmas."

"Did you want to wait?"

"If you're feeling too sick…" Stella started, but Mac cut her off with a, "No, no. I'm feeling fine."

"I'll be over there in twenty minutes," Stella offered. Mac agreed to it, and the two hung up. Stella looked around her bedroom for a while, trying to find where she put her shoes and sweater. She finally found them, managing to put them both on as quickly as possible. Finally grabbing Mac's wrapped gift, she left her apartment.

The streets were frozen underneath with last-minute shoppers scurrying around. Stella fought her way through the crowds, glad that Mac's apartment building was so close to hers. When she did get to the grey building, she entered quickly, heading to the elevator.

She walked to her left to find his door when she crashed into someone. "Hey, Stella," he greeted, and she saw that it was Mac. "I was just going to come down and get you."

"Well, I'm here." She smiled at him while looking him over again. She had grown so used to treating Mac like a child for the year after Claire died, and it came naturally to her to make sure he was healthy - physically and emotionally. He didn't look any better than he had at the office - he looked twice as bad, but he seemed brightened up by her presence.

Mac led her down the hall, walking right at her side, opening the door for her. "I have your present right over here…" He reached onto the counter behind one of the walls where she knew the kitchen was. When he pulled back, he held a starry night decorated bag. She already knew what would be in it when he unwrapped it to show a wine bottle. He also reached back onto the counter again to pull out two glasses.

Stella grinned at him as she took one of the glasses after he filled it. "Nice surprise. I was expecting a pen or something."

Smiling back, Mac said, "I'm not Danny. I can't see the appeal of a pen that stands on its point."

"Well, I can drop it repeatedly and shock people when it stands back up."

"I wasn't planning on being sick when I gave you any part of the present, so you'll have to excuse me." Mac dug out a tissue from his pocket and sneezed again.

"It's still beautiful."

Mac smiled at her and led her over to the couch. She sat with her present to him in her hands, but Mac remained standing. He reached on top of the coffee table before sitting beside her. "And this…"

Stella took the wrapped box, smiling at the snowmen on the wrapping paper. When she unwrapped it, she saw a velvety box that she opened. "Oh my God, Mac… It's beautiful." She touched the necklace inside with a silver rectangular pendent that trailed down a chain to diamond. Stella took a minute to find another thing to say to him, but she was spared from having to comment more.

"You always looked nice in pendants," Mac told her slowly. "And diamonds are your birthstone, right?"

Stella thought for a second and was amazed to realize that he was right. "You actually checked to see what my birthstone was for this?"

"Not quite. You look nice in diamonds, and it just happened to match."

Smiling at him again, Stella grabbed his shoulder and forced him, as gently as possible, to move towards her until she could plant her lips on his. It was only a small kiss, something that she regretted, but it was something. "Thank you for this," she said to him.

When Stella showed up for work the next day with a reddened nose and watery eyes as well as a hacking cough, Danny commented, "Did you spend the whole night with Mac or somethin'? Your flu is as bad as his!"


End file.
